Halo 4 Sales Skyrocket to $220 Million in First 24 Hours

Gamers hoping to cling to some semblance of productivity this week don't stand a chance. On one hand, there's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to occupy your time into the wee hours of the morning, and if that doesn't float your boat, Halo 4 launched earlier this week, amassing more than $220 million in global sales in the first 24 hours.

It's the biggest Halo launch in the history of the franchise, and also eclipses the biggest movie launch in U.S. box office history, Microsoft says. Halo 4 is on track to reach $300 million in global sales during its first week of sales.

"We’re thrilled that ‘Halo 4’ has emerged as the biggest U.S. entertainment launch of the year," said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios. "Thanks to the millions of fans worldwide who helped make this another record-breaking launch for the ‘Halo’ franchise, ‘Halo 4’ is kicking off a strong holiday season and has become the must-have blockbuster experience of the year."

Halo has been nothing short of a cash cow. To date, the Halo franchise has generated more than $3.38 billion in sales, making it one of the popular franchises of all time. Gamers have collectively logged more than 5 billion hours playing the various Halo titles, including 31.4 million hours playing Halo 4, according to Microsoft.

As impressive as all those numbers are, Halo 4 is still well short of the record for game sales in 24 hours. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 generated $400 million in 24 hours, and Black Ops 2, launched today, might do even better.